means. Following this, you should be able to discuss plant life cycles, with examples (always examples). So, ephemeral, annual, biennial, perennial (woody) and perennial (herbaceous) and the difference between them all and the significance of them. You should also be able to explain the difference between hardy, half-hardy and tender. You should understand that if, as an example, a question asks you to define a half-hardy annual, you should explain both the annual life cycle and the half-hardy definition. Linked to a broader concept is how life cycles may be affected by climate change – will we lose some plants but perhaps be able to grow more tender plants for example? By this point, you should be able to explain the structure and function of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers and how adaptations enable plants to compete with each other. For example, leaves can be adapted to be placed in the best position for light capture ( phyllotaxy), stems may be adapted for climbing, leaves may be adapted to protect from predation and so on. You should be able to identify all external parts of a plant and understand their role in the life of the plant. Understanding all this, you can link the different features to understand and be able to explain, for example, how water goes from the soil, up and through the plant, to the atmosphere (now as vapour), which will involve, root hairs, cortex, endodermis, the xylem vessels, veins, the leaf, intercellular air spaces, the stomata and finally into the atmosphere. You should be able to explain how pressure is generated to force the water into and up the xylem vessels and how it is pulled from above as well.
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